Mumbai Couple Wakes Up at 4 AM Every Sunday to Cook Breakfast for 100 People

In most homes, Sunday mornings unfold slowly, with a little extra sleep, a warm cup of chai and the day easing in. 

In Pooja and Dipesh Dedhia’s home in Mumbai, it begins in the dark.

By 4 am, their kitchen is already alive. Ingredients are measured, burners are on, and breakfast for over 100 people is being made. There is no rush or chaos, only a rhythm they have built over time. By the time the city begins to stir, their food is ready to be served.

For them, this isn’t just about cooking. It’s about showing up, every single week, for people who depend on it.

Through their Matoshreee Foundation, the couple has served over 15,000 meals to daily wage workers and others in need, many of whom return week after week for the food and for the certainty that someone will be there. 

And if there is one thing that defines their journey, it is that in nearly three years, they have not missed a single Sunday.

The personal reason behind their Sunday promise

Matoshreee Foundation is, at its core, a husband-and-wife-led mission to personally cook and serve food to those who need it most. 

Pooja, the co-founder, is a Mumbai-born chef and certified nutritionist. She balances her role as a head chef with raising two children in a joint family while also running a grassroots initiative that has quietly become a lifeline for many. 

Her husband, Dipesh Dedhia, a banker by profession and the founder of the Matoshreee Foundation, traces the idea back to something deeply personal.

“When I was born, I was very critical and needed blood urgently,” he shares. 

“Someone came forward to help, but we never knew who they were. Since then, I’ve always felt, I may not be able to reach that person, but I can keep doing good and reach others who need it.”

That thought stayed with him through the years — from college days filled with small social initiatives to a long-standing desire to build something of his own.

“I always wanted to start an NGO,” he says. “But I didn’t want to limit it to any one community or religion.”

He believes that kindness, whether it’s helping someone or simply being there for them, should come from a sense of humanity, not be limited by religion or community. By feeding people every Sunday, he feels he is contributing to humanity as a whole, not to any one group in particular.

After their marriage in May 2023, this idea resurfaced with clarity when Dipesh asked Pooja if they could finally start the Matoshreee Foundation. 

“He asked me, ‘What if we organise a breakfast bhandara(community meal) every Sunday morning?’” Pooja recalls. “And without hesitation, I said, let’s do it.”

What followed was simple but powerful. A WhatsApp message. A few social media posts. An idea shared with friends and family.

“We planned it in June 2023 and gave ourselves a few weeks to see the response,” Dipesh says. “But even before we began in July, we had bookings from the donors for three months.”

On 2 July 2023, the Matoshreee Foundation served its first Sunday breakfast.

And they haven’t stopped since.

Sundays are booked as donor sponsorships for birthdays, wedding anniversaries, death anniversaries or other meaningful occasions. The couple also personally sponsors a few Sundays as a family. 

What it takes to cook for 100 people every Sunday 

“Every Sunday, we wake up early at 4 am to prepare a fresh, wholesome breakfast,” Pooja says. “For us, it’s not just about feeding others; it’s about nurturing the spirit of community and compassion.”

The process is meticulous and entirely self-managed.

By Thursday, the menu is finalised — sometimes suggested by donors, and other times decided by the couple themselves. Friday and Saturday are spent sourcing groceries from D-Mart and preparing ingredients, while Sunday is reserved for execution.

“If it’s something like misal pav or chole, we wake up at 3 am,” she explains. “For poha, upma or idli, we start at 4.”

From chopping to cooking to packing, everything is done by the two of them.

“Since we do not have any helpers, this has been managed completely on our own,” Pooja says. 

The preparation takes about three to four hours. By 7 or 7:30 am, the food is ready — warm, fresh, and carefully portioned.

Over time, they’ve even refined how they serve it.

“Earlier, we used to pack everything in advance,” Dipesh says. “But then we realised it gets cold. Now we cook, load, and serve quickly so people get it warm. Breakfast should feel like breakfast.”

Each meal is simple but nourishing, with a hot dish, often paired with a banana for fullness, and in summer, something cooling like chaas (buttermilk) or kokum sharbat. 

And one thing remains non-negotiable for them. “Whatever we eat at home, we serve that,” Pooja says. “We never believed in giving leftover food. There should be dignity and quality in what we serve.”

The distribution itself takes another 30 to 45 minutes. But those moments, they say, are what stay with them the most.

Choosing service on their only day off 

Both Pooja and Dipesh hold demanding managerial roles. Weekdays are packed with professional responsibilities, family commitments, and everything in between.

“Sundays are our only day off,” Pooja says. “And this is how we choose to spend it.”

It hasn’t always been easy. In 2024, when Pooja was pregnant, the couple seriously considered taking a break. “It was getting physically difficult,” she admits. “We thought maybe we should pause for two months.”

But the thought didn’t last long. “The moment we imagined people waiting for us, we just couldn’t go through with it,” she says. “So we reversed the decision and continued serving them.”

Even after the arrival of their daughter in 2024, a moment that brought immense joy and change to their lives, their commitment remained unchanged.

“Not a single Sunday has been missed,” she says. 

Every week, as they arrive at Sai Mandir in Bhandup, familiar faces are already waiting.

“It is that kind of feeling which we cannot explain in words,” adds Dipesh. 

The people behind the 15000 meals

While 15,000 meals is a significant milestone, the stories behind the number define their work. 

“People often come and tell us, ‘I haven’t eaten anything since last night,’” Dipesh shares. “When you hear that, you know this matters.”

Some moments stay with them long after the day is done.

“Sometimes, people ask for a second serving,” he says. “We tell them to let others eat too. But they say — if we don’t get more now, we may not get anything the whole day.”

Over time, the relationship has become deeply personal.

“We now know who likes what,” Pooja says. “If someone doesn’t like bananas, we give them something else. There are kids who come with a parcel box for their family — we already know them.”

There are hospital nurses finishing night shifts, elderly individuals who come quietly, and children who arrive with anticipation.

“By feeding them, we have started understanding their lives, and that has changed so much in us for the good,” she says. 

In many ways, it has become more than a food drive. For the people who return every Sunday, it is a familiar place where they know they will be welcomed, remembered and treated with dignity. 

Taking the same care beyond Sunday breakfasts 

While Sunday breakfasts remain at the heart of what they do, the couple has also found other ways to support people in their community. 

On Women’s Day, they distributed sarees and useful items like lunch boxes to women in need. During Ganesh Chaturthi, they reimagined celebration as an opportunity to give.

“When we bring Ganpati home, we request people not to bring sweets or flowers,” Pooja says. “Instead, we ask for stationery.”

These contributions are then turned into kits for children from working-class families.

“Last year, we distributed around 40 stationery kits to primary and secondary students,” Pooja shares.

They have also supported children at an Adivasi Ashram Shala with essential items and attempted to introduce skill-based learning, like chocolate-making, though scaling such efforts has its own challenges. 

Even when some ideas are difficult to expand, they keep looking for small, meaningful ways to help. For Pooja and Dipesh, it’s never been about doing the biggest thing possible. It’s about understanding what people actually need and showing up with care, respect and practical support. 

How birthdays and anniversaries help feed 100 people 

Despite the scale they’ve reached, the couple has consciously chosen to remain independent.

“We don’t have any large external funding or organisation backing us,” Dipesh says. “We are completely community-supported.”

Sundays are sponsored by friends, family, and well-wishers, often to mark personal occasions like birthdays or anniversaries.

“We give donors full flexibility,” he adds. “They can choose the menu or leave it to us.”

While many have suggested scaling up or expanding, Pooja believes consistency matters more than size. “Even if the work is small, it should be done properly,” she says. “We don’t want to overextend and lose that.”

At the same time, they encourage others to take inspiration and start something similar in their own communities.

“We don’t want to limit this to ourselves,” she says. “If more people do this, more people will benefit.”

How you can help power the next 100 meals

At its heart, Matoshreee Foundation is built on participation.

“We invite anyone who wants to contribute,” Pooja says. “You can sponsor a Sunday breakfast and help feed at least 100 people.”

The contribution is modest, ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 depending on the menu, and the impact is tangible: a hot, fresh meal for someone who may otherwise go without.

You can donate here:

And for those who want to experience it firsthand, the invitation is open.

“You can come and serve with us,” she adds. “It’s a completely different feeling when you see it yourself.” Based in Bhandup, Mumbai, the couple continues to run this initiative with the same intention they began with — simple, consistent, and deeply human.

Because for them, this was never about numbers but always about showing up.

A promise kept every Sunday

In a world where acts of kindness are often occasional, Pooja and Dipesh have built something rooted in routine. It is a promise made through action and repeated every Sunday morning. 

Long before most of the city wakes up, their kitchen lights turn on. Meals are prepared. Boxes are packed, and by the time the sun rises, over 100 people know they will not go hungry that day.

Fifteen thousand meals is not just a milestone. It is a reflection of something far more powerful — the choice to care, again and again.

And perhaps, the next 100 meals could begin with you.

All images courtesy Pooja and Dipesh Dedhia

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thebetterindia.com